"Where Golf Is Great" Finegan, with Lambrecht and Thompson

[RJ_Daley]

I just received my copy of this masterpiece of golf photography and narrative documentation of the courses of Scotland and Ireland. Written by James Finegan, photos by Laurence Lambrecht and Tim Thompson, it is incredible.  If I became invalid and was bound to a bed, this book would be my constant companion.

I know we have had a thread on this already some weeks ago.  But, I couldn't help praising it further and encouraging anyone who likes this sort of golf course photo essay, coffee table keepsake, buy it!

[Adam Clayman]

I met Larry this weekend. He is just another one of those "nicest people on the planet" one could hope to meet.

Yesterday, He was out early to photograph, then went on a hunt tour, then played 18 holes and was enjoying lunch, all before 2 O'clock. If I had his energy, I'd burn mine. FYI; We had our first frost delay, too.

[RJ_Daley]

Frost is good!

[wsmorrison]

RJ,

I bought several of Jim's book on Amazon where they are a very reasonable $39 or so.  As has been said before, the book is an absolute joy.

Jim is speaking at this year's Flynn Invitational at Philadelphia Country Club.  The tournament gift is a signed copy of this book.  Jim has played PCC over 10,000 times in his life and belongs to two other clubs where Flynn had a hand; The Cascades (design) and Pine Valley (agronomics, construction, and maybe a little bit of intra-hole design work on 12-15).  He knows his Flynn courses and he really knows golf in the Great Britain and Ireland.  

He is a true gentleman and scholar.

[RJ_Daley]

Wayne, I think I'm going to order a couple more copies as well, for special Christmas gifts.  Pity the poor USPS guy, since just one in the box must have weighed several pounds.

[wsmorrison]

RJ,

I think Jim told me they weigh 11 pounds each!  My UPS deliveryman was straining under the weight of the books I ordered.  I like the size of the book and hope we can get something about that big for our book on Flynn.

I met Larry Lambrecht one time at the Lodge at Sea Island, GA and am a big fan of his work.  I was unaware of Tim Thompson but now have a high regard for his work as well.  

[RJ_Daley]

Wayne, we are all anxiously awaiting the Flynn book.  I hope that malingerer TEP isn't holding up progress...  

[Tom Dunne]

I attended the book launch at the Irish consulate last week. I love how "Where Golf is Great" is gaining notoriety for its sheer size! It is, in fact, a TOME. Apparently it's only two books per box on the slow boat from China. Jim gave a great little speech at the event, saying his favorite line he'd heard about the book's heft was "the first golf book I've ever seen that needs its own caddie."

Having seen his volumes on the history of golf in Philadelphia and of PVGC, however, I have to say the size of the undertaking is not unique in Mr. Finegan's storied career.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Sorry to spoil the love in but one of the things I don’t get about this site is the worship of Jim Finegan.  This coming weekend you will get a chance to make your own mind up about the K Club.

Some excerpts from his review (written before they changed the routing) that skip only the detailed hole by hole bit and give a fair representation of his assessment of the course.

“Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay get the credit for the superb golf course here... There is something here for everybody, and if you make the right (tee) selection, the round can be immensely enjoyable.....there was no question in my mind but that this is truly a championship course...

Small wonder that Arnold Palmer had this to say about the second nine: “for excitement, I think they’re the best consecutive holes I’ve ever seen. Not just on my courses, but anywhere.”  It is a bold and sweeping claim, but it cannot be dismissed out of hand. In any event, Arnold can be forgiven a touch of hyperbole, for this is not only thrilling stuff, it is terrific golf, though perhaps with a bit more in the way of Roman candles than the ordinary 16 handicapper can survive.  One thing is undeniable: the gorgeous and extravagant Kildare Hotel and Country Club has a golf course that is in every respect worthy of it.”

Every time his books are mentioned on here people say you have to read between the lines, well I’ve looked pretty hard but I don’t see how you can square the above with my impression of the K club and that of the contributors on the other concurrent thread.  Someone is sure to pipe up and say what a great guy and how much he’s seen (Sorry that happened when I was typing!).  But for me he lacks both insight and judgement (the 16th next week is “one of the most outstanding par fives I know”). I would never splash out for a green fee based on his recommendation alone. Can anyone point to a hidden gem he’s championed or a reputation he's debunked as overrated?  Save the money on the books, they amount to a comfortable coast through the usual suspects, and play the courses that interest you based on rounded discussion on GCA.

[Tom Dunne]

Tony,

Your post contains a grain of truth, but I couldn't disagree more with your dismissal of Jim Finegan's books. It's true that he's not one to rip a golf course, and has been known to err on the side of kindness.  I don't always agree with his assessments, either--Jim prefers the Burnside course at Carnoustie to the Championship links, which I think is a bit daft.

But that's really beside the point. This isn't the Confidential Guide. What Jim does better than almost anyone is convey the joys of golf--the unexpected pleasures and curiosities of travel, the portraits in miniature of golfers he meets along the way, the thrilling landscapes we encounter in GB&I.

I'd be hard-pressed to think of a person who loves the game of golf more than Jim Finegan. From a distance, I realize that can come across as saying something like "No son loved his father more than Tiger Woods", but Finegan's passion for the game comes across instantly, and it's infectious. I think that comes across in his writing quite well. Put him on a golf course and this is a guy who to this day, in his late 70s, turns into a kid discovering the joys of the game for the first time.

There are harder-hitting critics out there, I'll give you that. Personally, I like it when I disagree with his take on a course, because his perspective is that of an avid, experienced golfer, not a professional architect. I can relate to that. (Not to say that I haven't worn out my copy of the Confidential Guide, too...) And instead of drawing the conclusion that he lacks insight, I try to figure out why this outlier occurred. Is it an architectural difference, experiential, or something else?

I deal with golf writers and golf stories every single day, and I can't tell you how much bad, joyless stuff there is out there. Jim Finegan is one of the best of our time. Whether it's something as small as describing the lunch at Muirfield to something as grand in scope as capturing the experience of Cruden Bay (a course he was out ahead of the curve in championing), Jim ALWAYS puts the reader in the picture, and does so with humor and grace. That is not as easy as it looks, and it's impossible to fake.

I'd take him over a sharper-tongued critic any day, because the guy can WRITE.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Tom thank you for your well measured reply to my somewhat trenchant post.  It's always a pleasure to see people here respond to what's been written rather than take sides. I will dust off my my copy of Emerald Fairways and look afresh for the enthusiam.  Tony

[Mike_Sweeney]

Tony,

Hopefully Mr Finnegan is smart enough not to write for this audience of 1500 here at GCA. I think he wants to sell some books.

Even Geoff Shaq had an "18 greatest holes of Arnold Palmer" in Sports Illustrated last week. How many of those holes do you think would make Shaq's Top 1800 holes in the world contest?

PS. I bought the book on Amazon for $38. A couple of Larry L's pics have to easily be worth that!

[Bill Gayne]

Tom, excellent post.

When I read this thread, I knew immediately I wanted a copy of the book. Fortunately there was one new copy on Ebay this morning for a "buy it now" price of $25.99. It really is amazing how quickly new editions end up for sale at discounts on Ebay.

[Phil McDade]

Tony,

I had a similar reply in store, but Tom beat me to the punch. My only sense of Finegan comes from reading his three GB&I books, all of which I enjoyed and one of which gave me some good tips on places to play in Scotland.

As for specific criticisms and praises of his that may run counter to conventional views, I'd point out his love of Royal St. George's and Stonehaven, to cite two, and his pans of Royal Worlington and Newmarket and the aforementioned Carnoustie.

I think Royal St. George's, based on my own readings, generates more disparate views on its merits of any of the rota courses, at least among those who play there in the Open. Nicklaus somewhat famously panned it by saying that British Open courses got better the further north you traveled. Some dislike it for its somewhat arbitrary nature, particularly on tee shots. Finegan loves it, calling it the best course in England and one of the ten best in the world. Pretty strong praise for a course that's routinely viewed -- I think -- as something of an afterthought among the rota courses.

He also obviously loves quirk -- witness his praise of Stonehaven, maybe the quirkiest, shortest, non-championship (by any means) 18-hole course in any of his books. He takes it for what it is -- a truncated course on 60-some acres that's fun to play, if you don't mind criss-crossing fairways and clifftop golf. I played the course largely on his views, and had a blast. He also praises Machrie -- even with all of its blind shots -- and that's a course you'd be hard-pressed to find even more than a few folks here on the GCA board have played.

As for his pans, Carnoustie is not his favorite, and having walked it (not played it) prior to the 1990 Open, I can see why -- it struck me as brutally hard and rather joyless. I think Finegan admires toughness, but it should -- as he frequently says -- "stir the soul" in some way. He also doesn't have much favor for Royal Worlington ("The Sacred Nine), who none other than this site's founder views as perhaps the best nine-hole course in the world.

Finegan strikes me as someone like our Huckaby -- the worst day on a golf course is scads better than the best days elsewhere. He's inclined to enjoy his game, and he's refreshingly different than most commentators these days --  with their rips and distates and harrumphs -- in that his criticisms are measured and toned down.

And he's a good writer, often using language from a bygone era. We need more of that these days.

[Bill Shotzbarger]

I'm lucky enough to have an inscribed copy of the PVGC book. Can't wait to get this one.

[Michael Robin]

A quick Larry Lambrecht anecdote - I was playing against him in a 9 hole team match-play format where if the match was tied at the end of 9 holes, the team that last won a hole was declared the winner.

My partner and I won the 8th hole to pull even. Larry then knocked it to about 30 ft for birdie on 9 and I had it 25 ft for birdie. Larry rolled his putt up about 3 ft for par and I rolled it just in front of him. I was a little mad at myself for not finishing it off with a clear gimme, but in a true act of sportsmanship, Larry looked at the remainder of my par putt and immediately offered me his hand and conceded the match. It was a friendly tournament and his move here was very classy.

[ForkaB]

At under $2.50/pound that has to be the buy of the century!  It's cheaper than cheap hamburger meat.  I do, however, worry about the postage, and the postman.....

[RJ_Daley]

Tom Dunne, what a wonderful post, #9.  
Phil, you typed the Huckaby comment faster than I could...  
Finegan also puts me in mind of another giant and promoter of golf, "If you play golf, you are my friend"... Harvey Pennick.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here is Joe Logan's mini-review in today's Philadelphia Inquirer:

www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/15551755.htm

[Bill Gayne]

I received my copy yesterday and it is sensational. It's 525 pages long with Lambrecht's excellent photography and Finegan's comments on the courses and surrounding areas. It's the most comprehensive course and travel guide for Scotland and Ireland that I've ever seen.

This book belongs in all golf libraries.

[Evan_Green]

I couldnt put this book down this weekend. The pictures are great and Finegan's prose makes you feel like you are actually there.

This is the real deal - what an incredible book!

[Brian Phillips]

I am not a great fan of his work, don't really like his style of writing.  I own his other books as well as the Pine Valley book.

However, this new book is the only book I have in the living room as it is such a gem to pick up during TV adverts and be reminded of all the great memories of University life in Scotland and the last EIGCA tour of Ireland.

It is an absolute superb book and I think I will do the same as RJ and buy a few more for clients that love Links golf and those that have yet to play Links golf.

Brian